Rohan Bopanna loses World No. 1 rank to his partner Matthew Ebden
Rohan Bopanna, one of India's most decorated tennis players, suffered a dip in the latest ATP Rankings released on April 15, Monday. Rohan Bopanna lost his World No. 1 rank to his doubles partner Matthew Ebden from Australia.
Most recently, the Indo-Australian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden bowed out of the Round of 16 contest of the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024 after losing to Mate Pavic from Croatia and Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador.
Entering the prestigious tournament with a lot of expectations, Bopanna and Ebden suffered a straight-set defeat, with the scoreline reading 3-6, 6-7 (6-8).
Before the Monte-Carlo Masters 2024, the doubles pair secured the Miami Open title in March 2024 in the United States after defeating Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and America’s Austin Krajicek with a scoreline of 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-6 in under two hours.
Rohan Bopanna in red hot form in 2024
After their title-winning run at the Miami Open, Bopanna and Ebden reclaimed the World No.1 rank in the men’s doubles rankings. Furthermore, the title win was the pair’s second title of the year, following their title win in the Australian Open 2024 earlier in the year.
Notably, the Australian Open 2024 was Bopanna’s first-ever Grand Slam title in the men’s doubles event. However, earlier in 2017, Bopanna secured a mixed doubles Grand Slam win with his partner Gabriela Dabrowski from Canada at the French Open.
Interestingly, Bopanna is the first Indian champion of the Miami Masters since Leander Paes clinched the title with his Czech partner Radek Stepanek in 2012.
Additionally, Bopanna surpassed his record to become the oldest man to win an ATP 1000 event. This victory was not only Bopanna's 14th ATP Masters 1000 final but also his 63rd ATP Tour level final.
A two-time Grand Slam champion, winner of 26 ATP doubles titles, and a gold medallist at the Asian Games, Rohan Bopanna will set his sights on the Paris Olympics 2024 podium. As per the qualification criteria, players in the top 10 of the ATP rankings qualify directly for doubles and need to have partners who are in the top 300.